Van Horne: We Want A Monitoring System For Drugs NFL Supplies

(CBS) In an interview with the McNeil and Spiegel Show on Wednesday morning, former Bears player Keith Van Horne — part of a group of retired players who filed a lawsuit against the NFL for allegedly illegally supplying drugs and misleading players about their effects — explained that he’s not mad at anyone in particular but instead is just “mad” at a system that he believes has failed ex-players in the past and present.

“What we’d like to do is have them set up some monitoring system, the NFL, to monitor the drugs that are given and how this affects player down the line … so they can avoid addictions, so they can avoid complications from this down the road, for not only current players but for future players,” Van Horne said.

“We’re actually trying to make a difference in the culture that’s been fostered by the NFL for years and years and years and years.”

Van Horne addressed the topic in much more depth, including how he was misled about injuries during his career with the Bears from 1981-’93 and that players were left in the dark about the effects of the drugs they were taking.

You can listen to the full interview below.

Keith Van Horne on the McNeil and Spiegel Show

The lawsuit the ex-players filed alleges that the league obtained and administered drugs illegally, without prescriptions and without warning players of their potential side effects, to speed the return of injured players to the field and maximize profits. Players say they were never told about broken legs and ankles and instead were fed pills to mask the pain. One says that instead of surgery, he was given anti-inflammatories and skipped practices so he could play in money-making games. And others say that after years of free pills from the NFL, they retired from the league addicted to the painkillers, according to the lawsuit.